Chapter 367: Means of Offense
"Why am I seeing text…?"
Su Shan frowned and thought for a moment, feeling utterly clueless. She looked down at Lin Qin's table again and suddenly froze.
Although they were far apart, Su Shan could now clearly see the characters on Lin Qin's "lot" at this moment. Her eyes seemed to have truly changed. Those lots were not only very far from her, but the text on them was also facing away from her. Yet Su Shan seemed to have gained X-ray vision, able to clearly read every word on them at this moment.
" 'Spring blooms on a warm day' and 'Neutral lot'…"
After reading the characters on the lot, Su Shan turned her head and glanced at Qin Dingdong. Qin Dingdong met her gaze at that moment.
She saw that Su Shan's eyes had become dazzlingly bright, but they seemed a bit overused, now bloodshot.
"What a hassle…" Qin Dingdong shook her head. "You just got this ability and you're already pushing it this hard? What if you go blind?"
Su Shan didn't know what Qin Dingdong was muttering about. She simply looked down at the "lot" in front of Qin Dingdong: "Autumn wind sweeps fallen leaves," and "Water flows away without a trace."
"So that's it…"
Now she urgently wanted to see the "lot" in Lawyer Zhang's hands.
After all, she was "Spring." If she couldn't plan for the whole year, there was no way to win this game.
She strained her eyes to stare at the gray-green swarm of locusts. Since each locust was surrounded by tiny specks of light, Su Shan had to squint hard, her eyes growing hot, before she could vaguely make out Zhang Chenze's silhouette. She seemed to have calmed down, no longer flailing about, but still trembling all over.
Su Shan peered through the glow of each locust toward the table. Since every "lot" was covered in locusts, the characters on them were very hard to discern. Su Shan took a step forward and forced her eyes open even wider, as if only by using all her strength could her gaze penetrate those locusts. She clearly felt her eyes growing hotter, and after a dizzying blur of red, she finally made out the text on the lot.
"Violent rain pours down in torrents," and "Gentle sun caresses the earth."
Now all the "lots" in everyone's hands were clear.
In the first two rounds, Zhang Chenze had played "Neutral lot," and in the third round, she had played the "Ten thousand people aid the disaster relief" that Su Shan had passed to her.
Lin Qin had played "Neutral lot" for three consecutive rounds.
As for Qin Dingdong, she had a richer hand—she had played one "lot" of unknown name called "Thick smoke," one "Neutral lot," and one "Firecrackers bid farewell to the old year."
Excluding the "Neutral lots" and counting all the "Wish lots" that had been used so far, a total of eleven "Wish lots" had appeared. Among them, "Firecrackers bid farewell to the old year" appeared twice.
That meant there were currently nine types of "Wish lots" with five characters each.
"That's strange…" Su Shan frowned, already thinking more deeply. "If each 'lot' can counter one kind of 'calamity,' why are there nine lots with actual text? Since the Earth Dog's 'calamities' only number eight, what is the remaining 'lot' for?"
Su Shan looked at the only "Wish lot" left in her hand: "No idle fields remain across the four seas."
If she guessed correctly, this was the extra one.
Her previous speculation was probably correct: "No idle fields remain across the four seas" does not counter any "calamity"; instead, it is a kind of "accumulation." Since it has no "defensive means," it must be an "offensive means."
Looking at it from another angle, the remaining eight "lots" had all appeared. From now on, everyone could only draw two types of "lots": "Neutral lot" and "Firecrackers."
She didn't know if this was bizarre luck or the Earth Dog's arrangement, but now both sides—the "Four Seasons" and the "Year Beast"—had drawn all the "lots" that could be effectively used. Everything from now on depended on strategy.
Su Shan slowly closed her eyes. She felt her eyes dry and sore, and her face felt cold, as if tears had flowed. Without paying it much mind, she inserted "No idle fields remain across the four seas" into the hole on the table.
No one could save Zhang Chenze now. The only way was for her to overcome the swarm of locusts and continue the game within the room. Difficult as it was, it was the only option.
In Zhang Chenze's room.
She was trembling with her eyes closed, listening to the deafening buzz ringing in her ears, feeling the hard, cold insects crawling all over her body, causing every pore on her skin to contract rapidly. The sensation of locusts was peculiar—to be able to land on any crop, their feet had sharp barbs.
Now, tens of thousands of those barbs were hooked into Zhang Chenze's skin. It should have been excruciating pain, but Zhang Chenze felt nothing.
She was on the verge of collapse. At that moment, she didn't dare breathe, didn't dare open her mouth, and didn't dare open her eyes. She had barely managed to spit a few locusts out of her mouth, and the bitter taste still lingered. She never wanted to experience that feeling again.
The Earth Dog looked up at Su Shan's eyes, seeming about to say something, but then cleared his throat and said in a low voice, "The first person's 'Wish' is complete. Please, second person, draw a 'lot.'"
Hearing this voice, Zhang Chenze was slightly stunned. Although she was already surrounded by these disgusting locusts, she absolutely could not stop now. If this truly was a game about the "Four Seasons," she could not fall here. If her inability to act caused the others to die horribly, that itself would be unfair.
From a macro perspective, this time it was indeed her who should die. After all, she was not a "Resonator" like Lin Qin and Qin Dingdong, nor as sharp-minded as Su Shan. If one person had to die for the team to win the game, her death was the optimal choice at this moment.
"Yes, that's only fair."
With that thought, she slowly opened one eye. After confirming there were no locusts on her eyelid, she bravely swung her arm.
Things couldn't get any worse than this.
"It's just being covered in bugs…" Zhang Chenze slowly stepped forward, feeling the ground crunch under her feet like stepping on countless dried leaves. "Fortunately, I have experience… This kind of thing can't beat me…"
She tried to brush the locusts off the table, wanting to clear the blocked hole, but no matter how she shooed them, the bugs stayed motionless on the table.
Zhang Chenze gritted her teeth, pressed her palm flat on the table, and forcefully pushed all the locusts off the surface. The "lot" for this round was finally revealed.
She could only vaguely make out five characters on the "lot," but before she could read them clearly, her vision was flooded with chaotic locusts. She quickly protected her eyes, grabbed the "lot," and carefully crouched down. After clearing a few locusts from in front of her eyes, she lowered her head and looked closely at the five characters on the "lot"—
"Sweat drips down the soil."